bill: another l neither one of because earned to remember that. martha: i do know born that year. bill: my mom and my dad were around then. have a great weekend. martha: by everybody. see you tomorrow or monday. jon: fox news alert on the number one issue to americans this election season. we are talking about the jobs. the unemployment rate for september. 7.8% is the number. that number below eight percent for the first time in almost four years. 114,000 jobs created last month but not nearly enough to keep pace with population growth. as 23 million americans remain unemployed or under employed. coming up we'll go behind the numbers to see what they really tell us about the overall health of our economy. governor romney quickly issuing a statement saying, this is not what a real recovery looks like.

meanwhile, we are awaiting, we're awaiting remarks from president obama. both presidential nominees are campaigning in the battleground state of virginia today. we are closely monitoring these events. we'll bring you the very latest developments. back to all of that in just a moment. but first, brand new stories and breaking news. jenna: new developments on a deadly meningitis outbreak putting nearly half of all states on alert with fresh concerns that more people may be at risk. we're going to have the latest on this health scare and also new questions being raised by certain medication. you're going to want to hear that. also a major airline scrambling to fix a problem that could be very dangerous at 35,000 feet. american airlines canceling dozens of flights ahead of the holiday weekend. wait until you hear why. also this is not a knockout for the justice system. what prompted this guy to attack his own lawyer. that's all, "happening now."

jenna: a lot of great stories but we're back to politics. certainly a big week for the presidential campaign. some suggesting that maybe everybody's in reset mode. we'll see. hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. glad to have you on this friday. jon: i'm jon scott. it is a happy friday, isn't it? jenna: that's for sure. jon: both presidential candidates are moving on after the first presidential debate of the year. governor mitt romney riding a big wave of momentum all of a sudden as he president obama campaign this morning in virginia. the battleground state with 13 electoral votes up for grabs. governor romney attending a rally in a few moments in washington county which supported john mccain by a 2-to-1 margin over the president in 2008. more on that in a moment. right now back to our top story, the drop in the national unemployment rate. it now stands officially at 7.8% in september.

the economy adding 114,000 jobs last month, but not nearly enough to keep pace with population growth. so how does the overall rate drop? if we delve deeper into the numbers what does it really tell us about the health. economy five weeks from election day? charles payne, fox business network and ceo of w street.com. he joins us now. charles, if 114,000 jobs added will not keep pace with population growth, how does the rate drop? >> jon, when the bureau labor statisticses does the monthly job survey, they do two of them. one they call the establishment survey. that is the one we really take our cue from. that is the businesses. the other one is the household survey. extraordinarily volatile and that's the one where all of sudden, out of nowhere, 800,000 jobs were created. i mean you're talking about a number essentially unchanged for the last three months. all of sudden last month,

800,000 people had an epiphany, went out either got part-time job or opened up a hot dog stand. that is what we're being led to believe. but the establishment survey, that is the more sobering number. that is the number i think people probably understand in their gut. 104,000 private sector jobs. the president is always talking about private sector. less than half what it was a year ago. people working part time for economic reasons. not because they want to. but because they have to, jumped 600,000. and manufacturing lost another 16,000 jobs. so, you know, you've got a mixed picture. headlines are certainly painting a rosy picture but beneath the surface anything but. jon: i was going to say, we'll hear the president in virginia probably within the hour talking about these new numbers. he will paint the very best picture of them of course. you're saying this is really a pretty bad number? >> certainly is a bad number. a bad number for a lot of reasons. engp, considering where we are as a nation, 114,000

complete jobs, add in government jobs, it is not enough to truly get us out of the hole we're in since how many jobs were lost since the so-called great recession began. we should be well north, of 200, even 300,000 has not been uncommon in recoverrys in the post. think of it as this way. think of a rubberband. the further back i pull it further it should come up. it has come up but nowhere near historically than where we expect it to go. president will take advantage. some are skeptical, maybe, maybe these household numbers will be revised significantly lower but after the election. jon: some people are also very cynical. they're going to say there must have been, the white house must have had its finger on the scale of the counting this time around. do they get involved at all in how these numbers are calculated? >> you know the bureau of labor statistics is a government agency. i'm not sure if they tweaked

questioning of households when they ask a survey. but i do know it is extraordinarily fishy. i have a gut feeling it will be revised north of 8%. but that won't happen until we know who is in the white house. jon: after election day. interesting. charles payne, from w street.com. charles, thank you. >> thanks a lot. jenna: joe trippi, former howard dean campaign manager and fox news contributor. he is joining us with his perspective and await the president and what he will say about the job numbers. some might argue it is not how the begin the week but how you finish it. how big are the jobs numbers for the president an his campaign? >> we've been talking over a year how no president has been reelected with unemployment above 8%. it will be significant that it is at 7.8%. i mean in terms of talking points. also the other thing, jenna, that with the 114,000 jobs that were created, that now, add in the last month puts the president at net, he is

actually, there are more jobs created under obama than were lost. so that is another talking point that the republicans will lose now. but, more significantly, look, it really makes that debate performance by romney a big thing. look at obama being in the lead nationally and in these targeted states, going into the debate, if, if we sort of change that debate narrative and obama won it and then these numbers come out, people already starting to talk about the race being over. i think it would be even more significant. so just really points up how big that debate performance of romney was to overcome all this news that's been working against him for a while now. jenna: that is interesting painting that other scenario if it didn't happen that way but it did. in the news cycle over next several days, does it wipe out the debate performance by the president because these new numbers look more positive than expected?

>> doesn't wipe it out. romney would much rather have these 8.3 and rising and the 7.8% does talk, let him talk about you who the recovery's moving apace. the more significant thing, jenna, though is what the polls were saying before any of this. suddenly we were seeing 57% of americans starting to say that they thought the country was in recovery. only 43% thought it wasn't. there is a real feeling out there, for whatever reasons that the economy is recovering. this little piece of news here may help the president make that case. jenna: you know it is interesting about that polling that gallup took a look who actually was feeling more confident, more optimistic about the economy. and looks like the democrats, suddenly felt more optimistic about the economy. that screwed the overall reading to show that maybe the public feels more optimistic. so whether or not people feel optimistic because the economy is improving is tough to know through some of the polls. let's talk about the facts

that are coming up and philosophy, right? both men we saw in the debate stage had facts to support their claims. we know, joe, as far as the media is that you can really find facts if you want to. you can make them do backflips if you want. >> absolutely. jenna: that is reality. there is so much information out there. how important is it these facts, these talking points you mention the president might get from the jobs report versus the philosophy and philosophy that these two men are putting forward? what voters really retain? >> i think obviously philosophy matters but i think it is facts on the ground. people feel economic pressure in their lives. if they're feeling better about it, you will see them be, things lie the right track which we've seen go up. people are asking if the country is on the wrong track or the right track, more and more of them are saying right track. we haven't been able to figure out why. is it because, even if it is part-time work they're finding work? i'm not trying to get into

those numbers. i don't know what it means yet but i think all of it is still benefits to the president right now and hurts the romney narrative i think. jenna: let me ask you this. taking out some of the partisan side of all of this for voters, we're officially in the crazy period, right, joe? >> right. jenna: this will get crazy over next couple weeks. as seasoned campaigner, someone who has been through the elections what tips can you give us as voters out there to navigate what we're hearing and what we're going to continue to hear over the next couple weeks to election day? >> people have to research the facts themselves. look at the charts, both sides will call each other liars and twist the facts and make the economic numbers look the way they want to look. if you're undecided, you really got to take time and look, you know, go online, or you know, pay attention to what is happening. and not listen to what the rhetoric on both sides is going to be i think. jenna: sounds like good advice, joe.

appreciate it as always. look forward to having you back. thank you. >> thanks, jenna, more new information now on those millions of americans still looking for work. you've heard the numbers just out a couple of hours ago. the national unemployment rate in september falls to 7.8%. but breaking down the demographics we find among voters widely expected to support president obama, the unemployment numbers are far more bleak. molly henneberg live in washington with a look at that. >> reporter: specifically african-american, hispanic voters strongly behind the president four years ago, struggling now in this economy. in most cases unemployment rates higher than they were four years ago. going back to the 2008 election african-americans voted 95% for then senator obama. hispanic were behind him, 67%. these are two groups the president is counting on again in this election. but those two groups also have been hit hard in the economy. remember, as jon just showed

us, the overall unemployment rate for september is 7.8%. if you look at numbers by demographics, for african-americans the september unemployment rate is 13.4%. even higher for african-american men, 14.2%. it is 10.9% for women. for hispanics the overall unemployment rate in september is 9.9%. a bit better for men, 7.6%, but worse for hispanic women, 9.8%. even though african-americans and his pan anybodies are doing worse in the economy than population at large, one labor analyst says these numbers are not a matter of race. >> the real thing to look at is, how are you doing according to your skills and education. skill workers, more educated workers are doing very well no matter what race they're from. less skilled, less educated workers are doing very poorly no matter what race they're from. >> reporter: another key demographic for the president, young people ages

18 to 29. they voted 66% for the president in 2008. the unemployment rate among that group now, 11.8%. jon? jon: wow! molly henneberg in washington. molly, thanks. jenna: interesting to see the breakdowns, isn't it? jon: when you slice and dice the country up the picture is really bad in spots. jenna: depends on the age, the region. we'll talk a lot about the jobs numbers throughout the day today. again we're waiting on the president and his comments on numbers. mitt romney expected to make a an appearance in the next hour. meantime a convicted murderer get as happy birthday present after his panel recommends he should get parole. the partner in crime on the right-hand side of your screen is charles manson. is he about to go free? we'll take a closer look at that, that is for sure. your seatbelt may be fastened by your seat might not be. american airlines canceling dozens of flights over concerns about potential loose seats. why this latest scare could

not come at a worse time for the airlines and for call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. prego?! but i've bought ragu for years. [ thinking ] woer what other questionable choices i've made? i choose date number 2! whooo! [ sigh of relf ] [ male announcer ] choose taste. choose prego.

jon: right now new information in some crime stories we're keeping an eye on. a california parole board panel recommending parole for a charles manson follower. 70-year-old bruce davis there on the left of your screen has been behind bars for 40 years. convicted for his role in two murders with the guy on the right, charles manson, in 1969. actress daryl hannah facing criminal trespass

charges. her manager says she and another woman were arrested in texas while protesting construction of the keystone oil pipeline. parents of tyler clemente say they will not sue anyone involved in the landmark cyberbullying case. the rutgers student killed himself in 2010 after his roommate used a camera to spy on his sexual encounter with another man. jenna: major turbulence at the third's biggest airline. american airlines canceling dozens of flights because of concerns that seats may suddenly just pop loose. thousands of passengers may be impacted. this all comes with the company embroiled in a major labor dispute. anna kooiman live in the newsroom with details. >> reporter: the loose seat issue is adding to travel stress for thousands of passengers. american airlines canceled 44 flights today and 50

flights yesterday while making repairs to dozens of their boeing 757s. today federal officials are continuing a safety investigation regarding seats coming loose. it hands three times to 757s belonging to american airlines. initially american said the problem stemmed from a faulty clamp that holds the rows of seats to trackses on the floor of the aircraft. then yesterday american said the loose seats are result of pins popping out of grooves and poor design, even soda spilling into the tracks. american airlines is apologizing for the inconvenience. it says the safety of its customers and crews says it its top priority. >> installen properly, right wear wear and tear rarely have a pin that didn't reset. we came up with additional locking mechanism that would add another level of redundancy to make sure the seats stay in place. >> 48 planes will be back in

the air on saturday. this loose seat issue is most recent problem for american airlines parent company, amr corporation. flight cancellations and delays spiked in september. american put the blame on a slowdown by pilots were upset that american canceled their labor contract. amr corporation is operating in bankruptcy protection currently and trying to fight a takeover by us airways group incorporated. and for the loose seats issue, jenna, none of the other airlines have reported similar problems. back to you. jenna: which is interesting, there surely is soda spilled on other airlines. if that is part of the issue for the seats coming loose, a mystery maybe we have to investigate. anna, thank you. jon: a fox news alert. as promised president obama is at george mason university in fairfax, virginia. he is about to make some remarks and we expect he will have something to say about these new jobs numbers that are out. let's listen in as this crowd welcomes president

obama. >> everybody have a seat. have a seat. thank you. well. [cheers and applause] it is good to be here. i am so proud to have catherine's support. can you give her a big round of applause for that great introduction? [cheers and applause] it's also good to know that we've got the former governor and next united states senator from the commonwealth of virginia, tim kaine. [applause] and your congressman, jerry connolly. it is good to see all of you. [cheers] so, one month. just one month from tomorrow, virginia, you're going to step into a voting booth, and you are going to have a very big choice to make.

i know folks in this crowd may have already made some decisions but -- [cheers and applause] but, for the undecideds that are here, as well as those who are watching today, i said this before. this is a choice, not just between two candidates or two parties but a choice between two fundamentally different visions for america and today i believe that as a nation we are moving forward again. we're moving forward. [applause] after losing about 800,000 jobs a month when i took office our businesses have now added 5.2 million new jobs over the past 2 1/2 years. [cheers and applause]

this morning we found out that the unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level since i took office. [cheers and applause] more americans entered the workforce, more people are getting jobs. now everimont reminds us that we've got too many of our friend and neighbors that are looking for work and there are too many middle class families that are still struggling to pay the bills. they were struggling long before the crisis hit but today's news certainly is not an excuse to try to talk down the economy to score a few political points. it's a reminder that this country has come too far to turn back now. [cheers and applause] because of your strength and resilience, the strength and

resilience of the american people, we made too much progress to return to the policies that led to the crisis in the first place. i can't allow that to happen, i won't allow that to happen, and that is why i am running for a second term as president of the united states. [cheers and applause] i have seen too much pain, seen too much struggle, to let this country get hit with another round of top-down economics. one of the main reasons we have this crisis is because big banks on wall street were allowed to make big bets with other people's money. now governor romney wants to roll back the rules we put in place to stop that behavior? that's not going to happen. that is not going to happen. [applause] one of the main reasons record surpluses under

bill clinton were turned into record deficits under george bush because we put two wars and two tax cuts on a credit card and now governor romney wants another $5 trillion in tax cuts he can't pay for? not if i have anything to say about it. that's not going to happen. [cheers and applause] we are not going to let this country fall backward, not now, not with so much at stake. we've got to move forward. we need to invest in small business and manufacturers who create jobs here in the united states. we need to recruit 100,000 math and science teachers. train two million workers in community college, bring down the cost of college tuition. [cheers and applause] we need to cut our oil imports in half, create

thousands more jobs in clean energy. we need to use the savings from end the wars in iraq and afghanistan to help pay down our deficit and put people back to work doing some nation-building right here at home. that's the agenda we need. that is how the you strengthen the middle class. that is how you keep moving forward. that is the choice in this election. and that's why i'm running for a second term. that's why what need. [cheers and applause] now my opponent --. jon: if you would like to watch the rest of president obama's remarks there at george mason university in virginia, we have them streaming live for you right now on foxnews.com. new information now on a deadly outbreak of meningitis that has spread to several states. investigators are now focusing on the safety of the suspected source, custom

mix medication. how many drugs are involved here and is anybody overseeing the process? here with a closer look a phician and professor of public health at johns hopkins and the author of, unaccountable. so a lot of people obviously are terrified about this meningitis outbreak. we're told that this is not the kind that spreads from human contact. you essentially had to have gotten injected with a batch of this bad medication in order to catch it, right? >> yeah. this really comes from steroid injections. we're not talking about steroids you take by mouth. stair rid, liquid steroids that were injected mostly for back pain. they came from a central facility in new england. jon: but it raises the questions about why this batch was contaminated and does, could this be just the tip of the iceberg of this kind of thing? >> absolutely, jon. we don't know how many people got potentially a fungal infection from this

injection of steroid. if there are 17,000 vials out there, you can do the math. these vials were sent to 23 different states. tennessee, virginia and maryland. have all had cases. there are five deaths. at least 35 patients but there could be thousands affected by this infection from this steroid injection. so if you have had a steroid injection in the last couple weeks because it can take anywhere from days to four weeks for these symptoms to manifest, you should ask and find out if it came from the new england compound center. jon: right. that center is a place that makes these custom mixed medications. that is what the concern is about here. what are they? what does that term mean? >> well, jon, with the general shortage of medications out there, that is, many places have a run or a shortage or run out of a certain medication, these compounding centers have been developed. what they do, they mix the medication. they have stocks and they almost really produce them. and they don't have the same standards as say, a big

pharmaceutical company does. many people are questioning those regulations and the different types of oversight that they have after this problem. they had two safety warnings in the past from the fda at this center. many people are really worried. meningitis is a deadly infection. jon: so, all right. so, other than checking for a batch of medicine that would have already been injected i guess, that came from this compounding center in framingham, massachusetts, the new england compounding center, what should people do, what should they take away from this? >> exactly right. here outside of boston is the framing ham location for this new england compound center. if they had an injection of a steroid of any kind, try to get it analyzed to see where the batch came from. the symptoms to watch for are the flu-like symptoms. remember most people have flu-like symptoms this time

of year. nausea, mild headaches, feelers. those symptoms don't necessarily mean you have deadly meningitis. means if you have that and a steroid injection you need to look into it as soon as possible. jon: all right. i had one of the back injections a couple years ago. i feel better about that. but scary stuff. thank you, doctor. >> good to be with you, jon. jenna: a new warning from turkey's prime minister after violence in war-torn i can't -- syria spills over into his country. latest on the tension there. prominent conservative columnist critical of romney's campaign in the past, said his performance in the first debate was a game-changer and will benefit romney more than anyone is projecting. a fair and balanced debate is next. ken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth

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there's a wide range to choose from. we love to travel -- and there's so much more to see. so we found a plan that can travel with us. anywhere in the country. [ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. jenna: now to some news making headlines overseas. tensions rising as turkish forces are deployed to the

syria border. this after parliament approved strikes in retaliation for syrian government shelling that killed five turkish civilians the situation we have to watch very closely there. meantime clashes intensify within syria as troops battle rebels for control of key areas. you're looking at amateur video we believe to capture what appears to be a recent shelling in damascus. leland vittert is live from jerusalem with more on all of this. >> reporter: right now, jenna, the syrian government is in an attempt to recapture both aleppo, one of the suburbs there in the northern part of the country, and cities in around damascus the capital of the country. these are new assaults launched by the government trying to keep up their momentum. we have amateur video provided by some rebel groups showing these assaults. 18 months into the civil war the rebels are really not able to hold any positions. they have been in these running battles with the syrian government as this war continues and the

government is trying to keep the pressure up on the rebels. there has been one very big bright spot for the rebels this week. they have reported that they captured a syrian air defense base. that's significant because inside that air defense base are a number of anti-aircraft missiles. as you might remember, the syrian president has been using his air force to pound away at the rebels it impunity with the surface-to-air missiles, if they figure out how to use them that would give them a way to fight back against president assad's helicopters and his air force. we also got disturbing word from the rebels. they posted the video. we have a still frame from the video to show you of a number of iranian hostages being held by the rebels. they say they will start executing those iranian hostages if the syrians and iranians do not start releasing syrian rebel prisoners. this will be a real test in terms of how much iran is willing to stand behind president assad, if they're ill willing to see their own people executed to try to keep up pressure on rebels.

the next 48 hours will see how that will play out. as we know there is a lot of pressure right now on president sass saud even though there is what you might call a tense calm on the border after the skirmish you talked about in the beginning jenna. right now the turk kish it foreign minister said it would a serious mistake to underestimate turkey's resolve. as we've seen the past don't four, 48 hours, it could easily snowball into a regional war if there is anymore firing into turkey from syria the next couple weeks. jenna: thank you very much. we'll continue to watch the situation on the ground there. jon: a prominent conservative columnist doing a 180 on governor romney. peggy noonan had been highly critical of mr. romney's presidential campaign but writing in "the wall street journal" she now says the debate was a game-changer in this race and its impact

will be felt far and wide. is this a fair assessment? let's get into a fair and balanced debate. julie roginsky, former political advisor to democratic senator frank lautenberg of new jersey and a fox news contributor. ron bonjean, former communications director to former speaker dennis hastert. welcome to both of you. julie, to you first, you said the president's performance was not great. >> right. jon: peggy noonan said not only did governor romney win handily, that it will reverberate throughout the election cycle, do you agree? >> i don't know. it remains to be seen. i will be the first to say the president was abysmal. he was not truly great. he was terrible. one debate does not a presidential campaign make. in factualer mondale in 1984 spanked ronald reagan and reagan came back to win 49 of 50 states. probably would have won the 50th had mondale not won his home state of minnesota. you can't look at one debate

training the trajectory. i'm not as confident romney will make up in the swing states what he needs to make up to beat the president in one debate especially with more debates coming. we don't know. at end of the day we have really good jobs report despite republicans are saying. it shows progress and may not be as quick as people like. nevertheless moving in the right direction. that is what voters look at much more than one debate performance. jon: ron, despite the constant coverage on fox news channel and other place as lot of experts say people aren't really even paying attention to the race until just about now and maybe now, despite the conventions and the negative advertising from the obama campaign and so forth, people are just now forming their opinions of governor romney. is there something to that? >> oh, absolutely. you had around 67 million voters watching, watching the debate where, romney cleaned obama's clock and showed exactly what he stood for. he laid out his plans. he laid out his vision for the future. you know, he talked about helping the middle class. he talked about making sure

that seniors won't have their, will keep their medicare. and he kept obama on defense. that was so important. especially for the conservative base to see him on the same stage as president obama, pulling back the curtains and showing what the real "wizard of oz" is and in showing who the real mitt romney is, really, really helped him. and i think it's a good start. it is not the end. we still have several debates left. he has to keep the momentum going over the next 30 days. when you have the conservatives like peggy noonan and others rallying around him, shows everybody is behind him and everybody wants him, every republican wants him to win. jon: preliminary indications, julie, indicate republican excitement, excitement among republican voters is up as a result of governor romney's performance. what about democratic excitement? has it been dimmed by what you say was an abysmal performance for the president. >> republican excitement couldn't be down.

peggy noonan and bill kristol writing obituaries and on suicide watch. some democrats including me were disappointed in the president's performance, no doubt about it. jon: so you're going to be a romney voter now? >> i'm not. i'm still sticking by, tell you why, sticking with the p the policies the president is espousing are policies democrats including myself much more than they do mr. romney's. a debate is debate. if obama had done much better than romney, ron and i would be arguing something very difficult than what we're arguing today. we have a month left. early voting in places like iowa started last week well before this debate. obama, i fully suspect will not allow himself to be had the way he was had at last debate going forward. jon: i wonder how many foals would like the mail-in ballots back. >> i don't know about that. we'll see. jon: already a fait accompli. is it going to depend on these last two debates?

romney has momentum but it could all fall flat if things turnaround in the debates next time? >> romney has to keep the trajectory going by doing very well in the debates. clearly he is prepared. he is continuing to, work on these things and he is going to, i think he is going to do very well against obama in these debates. he has a big foreign policy speech coming up this monday. the next debate will be foreign policy which obama is very weak on especially with, the crisis in the middle east. our embassy in benghazi. a dead foreign, a dead american ambassador. you know, that's not a strong suit for president obama right now and something mitt romney can really take, take obama out with. jon: ron bonjean and julie roginsky, thank you both. >> thank you. jenna: there is certainly a lot of reaction to september's jobs report. both presidential campaigns going into spin mode already. what do today's numbers really tell us about the prospects for millions of

americans looking for work? our jobs panel weighs in and talks a little bit about this report and takes your questions. a textbook example of a round house punch. maybe this guy felt he had nothing to lose after pleading guilty. wait until you hear how much the time his attack on his own lawyer added to his sentence

jenna: the new jobs numbers out this morning as i'm sure you're aware at this point.

some say pointing to really a break-through in the recovery. the unemployment rate falling below 8% for the first time in almost four years but a deeper look shows a little bit different picture. we want to show this to you. you might hear a lot about u-6 rates that measures people not fully employed and want to be, sometimes people call this the other unemployment rate. the latest report shows that the u-6 rate stay as the same 14.7%. hasn't changed even though we saw a drop in the unemployment rate. so this is a number we're keeping in mind because over the last several months 600,000 people got part-time work. this is one of the reasons we see a lower overall unemployment rate and, not necessarily see a drop in that broader unemployment rate because people have part-time jobs, not full-time jobs like they probably want. let's bring in our jobs panel. jim kessler, senior vice president for policy and

cofounder of third way. former policy director of democratic senator chuck schumer of new york. john engler former governor of michigan. nice to have you both on the program. this comes up every sing gill time we get a jobs report and whether or not the books are cooked and whether or not we get a accurate reading. this conversation coming up more because we're right by a presidential election. what is your response, when you hear concerns from people maybe this is isn't a accurate reading on the job market? >> so two points, one is, these numbers are always wrong. i mean, they're done on surveys and there's revisions done over and over and over again. if you look in 2009, almost all of the revisions, when they would look back made the jobs numbers worse. looking back in 2011 and 2012 the revisions have generally made previous months better. but, look, the people who

put this together, they're statisticians, statisticians. this is what they love to do. they don't cook the books. they're the most, you know, they're class trashers of every high school. jenna: we maybe don't envy their job. governor, let me -- >> but they love it. jenna: let me get your thoughts on this, governor because hilda solis labor secretary said i'm insulted when people bring that up. our people in the labor department don't do this. your thoughts, you've been a businessman a long time and often in politics, what do you say about viewers say, i don't know about this number? >> a year ago, unemployment rate was 9%. good to see it coming down. we're still way behind we should be in a normal recovery. this is tepid recovery. it is good seeing people going back to work. i think seasonal hiring helps, no question about that. disappointing to see manufacturing drop a little bit. anything we can do to get people back to work is good for america. we just need a lot more of it and have mead needed it

for some sometime. jenna: go back to the point you made about manufacturing. not only you had experience of governor of michigan but ceo of national association of manufacturers. some people have questions whether or not we're seeing seasonal hiring so close to the holidays. how much of a factor do you think that is? >> halloween is second largest holiday we have. it is a factor. i'm not going to say that's the whole story. it isn't. it is good to see it coming down. if we go back to the first quarter of the year we always ask our ceos every quarter what do you think will happen in six months? back in march, looking ahead they said that this was going to be a strong hiring period. but what they said in the second quarter and third quarter, is they're looking for continued weakness. so we've gone down three consecutive quarters in terms of the expectations, six months from now. that is what worries me, without a solid strategy, can we, is this just a blip down? i mean first time we've been

below 8% in almost four years. i just like to see america, put its people to work and that take as real solid growth strategy. at the roundtable we think we offered wonderful ideas for that. jenna: we would love to hear some of those ideas. i have to bring jim into this conversation as well because one of the things we're also get, jim, taking a look at all the economic data, we have to remind everybody this number does look backwards on september. we're already in october. it is reflecting the past a little bit. we saw the gdp number that showed we're growing barely over 1% as far as the entire economy. is 7.8% like a great number? i mean in quote, unquote, normal times would we look 7.8% and say, hey, that is a pretty good number or in comparison looking a lot better than the last several years? >> well, it's looking a lot better than the last several years. 7.8 is a great number if you're coming down. and not a great number if you're going up in the wrong direction. jenna: great point. >> obviously, we want the

economy to do better but i do think this is a broadly positive report and one of the numbers i think is very underreported is the increase in the hourly work week. it is now up to 34.5 hours per week. that is at the number it was at prerecession. that is the peak that it ever gets. when you get higher than that number, means basically you have to hire people. i think that's the reason why you're seeing this move to part-time work. i think it is a directional move from part time to full time. i hope it is. jenna: governor, quick final thought on that because we saw 600,000 more people with part-time jobs. do you agree with jim that is maybe precursor toward full employment or is that still telling us the economy is week and people aren't getting offered full-time jobs? >> they have a lot of reluctance to commit to full-time employment until a clear picture where the economy is headed. jenna, you made the point. low gdp number is low

economic growth and activity. we may be the strongest weak man standing around and not good enough and not nearly where the potential is if we get it right in terms of the policy and direction. jenna: we would love to have you both back on about policy and direction. that is important context. governor and jim, thanks for joining us today. >> thank you, jenna, massive flames erupt in an area plagued by wildfires. the latest on a race to save dozens of homes that are in the danger zone coming up

jenna: welcome back, everyone. chaos in the courtroom and the camera catches it all. take a look at this. lamarcus williamson clocking his own lawyer after pleading guilty to assault, robbery and drug charges.

he was caught completely off-guard. the punch the judge described as a round house punch hit the public defender right in the jaw. it left hall with a swollen lip and face and this attack added extra six months to williamson's sentence. jon: fox news is on the job hunt this morning. we got the latest national unemployment rate. it has fallen to 7.8% in september. the economy though added only 114,000 jobs last month but that number can not keep pace with population growth. and the drop might not be much consolation to the 23 americans unemployed or underemployed. still at least one key sector is showing signs of improvement. jonathan serrie has that. he is live from atlanta. jonathan? >> reporter: hi, jon. auto manufacturing has certainly become a bright

spot in the u.s. economy responding to increased consumer demand. carmakers, both foreign and domestic, are adding literally thousands of jobs to their u.s. plants. in addition to new highs they're also bringing back some experienced workers who were laid off during the recession. although some of these experienced workers may find it's not exactly the same job when it comes to payday. listen. >> the benefits packages have definitely been lower and a lot of those plants are not unionized. so that has been some of the discussion. uaw has been interested in unionizing some of those plants. so far all of them have resisted. >> reporter: even union shops have agreed to lower pay and benefits as part of the restructuring of the big three automakers but the increase in auto manufacturing jobs is expected to have multiplier effect in other parts of the economy. the center for automotive research estimates each job at a car plant generates nine additional jobs at other businesses such as restaurants, advertising firms and parts suppliers. according to the research

firm, auto data, last month's u.s. car sales reached their highest rate in more than four years. the ceo of as bury automotive group says consumer confidence is making a comeback. listen. >> we're seeing a shift from a need buyer to a want buyer. with all the exciting new product in the marketplace today, that's helping that trend. i think the other thing that's very is change in the credit markets. >> reporter: in other words, banks are starting to lend more, giving car buyers more options when they come out here to the dealerships. jon? jon: jonathan serrie, joining us live from atlanta. thank you. jenna: you've got to put gas in that car when you buy it, that's for sure and major sticker shock at the pump. cast prices suddenly skyrocketing in one state. we'll tell you where this is happening and why. plus a new chapter in the recovery of a hero. we have the latest on travis mills. the incredible achievement

on this wounded warrior and what is happening in his hometown still to come. >> hi, jenna lee. i'm doing well. been a while. but i made it and i'm going to get better. you have a wonderful day. thank you. have a good night.

jenna: just before noon here on the east cst, brand new

stories this hour. more reaction to the big debate as the candidates hit the trail very hard. our news watch panel breaks down the mainstream media coverage of what most are calling a win for governor romney. we'll see. also, new reports of suspects in custody for the murders of our ambassador in libya and three other americans after the fbi finally gets on the ground in benghazi but stays less than a day there. we'll talk about that. and filling up the car, much pricier in some parts of this country. why insane gas prices are forcing some station owners to simply shut off the pumps all coming up on "happening now." well, president obama hitting the campaign trail today in two swing states. welcome to the second hour of "happening now," i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. the president ending his week with a positive economic report as the unemployment rate drops to the lowest level since he took office. he is now on his way to ohio after speaking in virginia a

short while ago. mr. obama touts the new unemployment report telling the crowd it shows that his policies are moving the country forward. the september jobless rate dropping to 7.8%, it's down from 8.1%. doug mckelway live at the white house with more. doug? >> reporter: hey, jon, these new unemployment numbers obviously coming as tremendously welcome news to an obama campaign that is still reeling from what most now agree was a lackluster debate performance last month. in fairfax, virginia, at george mason university, the president departed from his standard stump speech to tout these new numbers. here he is just moments ago. >> but today's news certainly is not an excuse to try to talk down the economy to score a few political points. it's a reminder that this country has come too far to turn back now. [cheers and applause]

because of your strength and resilience, the strength and resilience of the american people, we've made too much progress to return to the policies that led to the crisis in the first place. >> reporter: but behind these apparently encouraging unemployment numbers are some very confusing and conflicting statistics. the number of unemployed dropped 456,000 last month while only 11,000 new jobs were added, so that leaves 342,000 people kind of up in the air. did they leave the united states? did they give up looking for work? dean baker of the center for economic and policy research in d.c. told fox news, quote: the jump in employment reported in many september was almost certainly a statistical fluke. the romney campaign largely dismissing these new unemployment numbers as another sign of a stalled economy. governor romney expected to make comments at a rally in abington, virginia, any moment, but his campaign issued a statement that read, quote:

>> reporter: there will be, jon, one more jobs report to come out before the election, that coming out on november 2nd, the friday just four days before election day. we will find out then whether two months in a row of job report makes a positive trend or not. everybody will be. watching that one, jon. jon: and the revisions down the road. doug mckelway in washington. thank you. jenna: doug just mentioned governor mitt romney on the campaign trail today. his event in virginia, we heard from the president about an hour ago. let's go ahead and take a listen to governor romney. [cheers and applause] >> mitt! mitt! mitt! mitt! >> thank you. thank you. gosh, i just spent a half hour

or so with some of your fine citizens from the this area, folks who are working in this area that want to keep working in this area, a wonderful couple that has a farm that now they wonder whether they'll be able to keep the farm because the husband lost his job at the coal mine. these are tough times in this community, but you are strong and confident and patriotic people, and we're going to bring back jobs and bring back america. [cheers and applause] now, somewhere congressman morgan griffith is here. where is he? hello, congressman, good to see you. thanks for being here. you've got to make sure to reelect this guy. morgan griffith is one of the best. [cheers and applause] and by the way, we'd have the governor here today, but he's down in florida campaigning for me, so thank you to bob mcdonald for the all the work he's doing, a great governor. [cheers and applause] and you may know that a couple of nights ago we had a debate, you may have gotten the chance to see that. [cheers and applause]

and it was a good experience, i think, for me, for the president, for people who watched. it was a debate of substance. we talked about the issues that america faces. i got the chance to ask the president some questions that people, i think people across the country have wanted to ask the president such as why it was that when america was needing jobs so badly, he was pushing for obamacare instead of working to get jobs for the american people. [cheers and applause] got the chance to ask him why there's still 23 million americans that are out of work or stopped looking for work, struggling to find good full-time jobs. i got the chance to ask him why it is the middle class is so buried in this country. incomes have gone down, prices of gasoline have doubled, prices of food and clothing and almost everything else you buy has gone up. people in the middle class have been squeezed, today been buried, as the vice president said. got the chance to ask him why he's cutting $716 billion from

medicare. that's not the right thing to do to pay for obamacare. also got to point out he's in favor of a tax plan that will kill 700,000 jobs. so he had the chance to answer those questions or not answer them as the case may be -- [laughter] i think even more important was the chance to talk about where we're going in the future and what he would do and what i'd do and what he described was, in my view, a reiteration of the status quo. he's going to keep doing the things he's done in the past, he's going to have a stimulus if he can, he's going to hire more government workers if he can, he's going to pick winners and losers like solyndra. a friend of mine said, no, he doesn't like picking winners and losers, he just likes picking losers. [cheers and applause] and, of course, he's in favor of higher taxes. yesterday the vice president blurted out the truth. he said, in fact, they do want to raise taxes a trillion dollars. well, i don't want to raise taxes on any americans because i

want to create good jobs in america. [cheers and applause] now, i take america in a very different direction. first of all, i want to make re that our policies encourage job growth, and i have five things i'll do. you've heard me describe them time and again, but five things i'll do that'll get jobs growing in this country again, and growing right here in this part of virginia as well because number one on my list is to take full advantage of all our energy resources, our oil, our coal, our gas, our nuclear, our renewables. [cheers and applause] and i know you care a lot more about coal than the other ones i just mentioned, so let me just remind you that when the president was running for office, he said that if you built a new coal-fired plant, why, you'd go wasn't. and the head -- bankrupt. and the head of the epa has also said that the regulations on burning coal are now so vin gent is virtually impossible to build a new plant.

well, i don't believe in putting our coal underground forever. i believe we should take advantage of it and is use a resource that's abundant and cheap and can be burn inside a clean way. -- burped in a clean -- burned in a clean way. [cheers and applause] and by the way, i also believe in oil and gas, i believe we should develop our resources. i believe within eight years america, north america, rather, should be energy independent, and that requires all those sources of energy. [cheers and applause] and that'll keep, that'll keep the price at the pump moderated, it'll keep the price of electricity moderated, and it'll also mean a lot of good jobs for americans. it's been calculated that if we're really serious about energy, really take advantage of the energy resources we have, that you're going to create some three and a half to four million jobs. i know right now you're thinking about one job, your job. i'm thinking about your job as well, person by person. every american deserves a good job. people are hard working right here in this community. i want to make sure your jobs

stay here, grow here and provide a bright future for you and for your family. [cheers and applause] jenna: governor romney talking about the economy and a slew of other different policies that he's reminding the american public and his audience in virginia about. if you'd like to watch this, you can do so on foxnews.com. it is streaming there. in the meantime, we have this fox news alert and something we should mention, governor romney's going to be giving a major foreign policy address in virginia on monday, and this next situation is likely to come up. the murder of ambassador chris stevens and three other americans in libya. now a turkish television network is reporting two suspects in the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi have been detained at an istanbul airport. chief washington correspondent james rosen is here with the latest twists to this story. james? >> reporter: jenna, good afternoon. the turkish broadcaster reported these arrests on its web site today saying authorities there took into custody two tunisia

nationals who were allegedly flashing fake passports at the airport. if true, that would bring the total number of known arrests to ten as libyan authorities have spoken of eight ores. -- others. previous published reports have cited the presence of at least one due nice natural inside libya. these arrests come hours after fbi agents escorted by u.s. military personnel conducted their first on-site inspection of the quote-unquote crime scenes in benghazi yesterday from which, as you may know, various journalists have already retrieved sensitive evidence. >> that which is an ongoing matter, but i'm confident that through the steps that we are taking and that we plan to take that we will be able to, um, exploit the scene as is appropriate and hold accountable those people who committed those dastardly acts. >> reporter: now to something we first broke on "special report" with bret baier last

night. fox news has previously reported that president obama and key national security aides made a secret finding as early as september 12th that the men gaz ghazi murders were an act of terrorism. fox news has since learned that five days later there was still an internal dispute raking inside the administration -- raging inside the administration over how to characterize the attacks publicly because senior intelligence officials reached out on monday, september 17th, to several security contractors to have them review the mortar damage to the u.s. annex in benghazi as captured in a series of images taken by cbs news. based on the angles of impact and fragmentation patterns, these analysts concluded there were at least two mortar teams to score district hits, all obvious evidence of a terrorist attack. the intelligence officials then used these outside assessments

to rebut internal claims from other officials that these benghazi murders were just a spontaneous mob action that grew out of control. and the very next day matt olsen, chief of the national counterterrorism center, testified publicly that the acts were an act of terror. @james rosen, fnc, i'll link you to my long form report on this subject on the fox news web site. jenna: james, thank you very much. jon: well, an october surprise rocks the 2012 campaign. president obama shocking his supporters this week, becoming really his own worst enemy in the first presidential debate. but it was only one night, so which candidate won the week? we'll take a look. jenna: also, drivers face a big surprise at the pump. gas prices jumping to sky-high levels, and they're expected to keep rising. >> plus i spent $56.15 to fill up this little thing. >> yeah, it just seems like it's

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jenna: now this fox news alert, the national average for a gallon of regular gas hitting $3.78. now, many of you say, hey, that's bad enough, but folks in many california getting a huge smackdown, in fact, gas prices there jumping nearly 20 cents overnight. the average a whopping $4.48, and prices at some stations are as high as $6 a gallon. some vendors are just closing up shop when they see those prices. our affiliate, kttv, is live in north ridge, california, with this news. hi, bob. >> reporter: yeah, lots of frustrated drives in california, to say the least. we've got prices shooting up and gas pumps shutting down. this is a gas station, a costco gas station, if you will.

costco known for its cope yus inventories in just about everything shutting down because they've similarly run out of gas. twelve stations, in fact, out of gas. this is because costco doesn't have its own refinery, it goes to the open market to look for gas, and we are in short supply, having big troubles here in southern california, in california as a whole. in northern california, for example, the chevron refinery had a fire there in late august. that shut that down for several weeks. it's still shut down. and here in southern california because of a power outage, one of the refineries was shut down here. we had a heat wave on monday that shut that refinery down. in addition to that because of california regulations, these suppliers are trying to ship from the summer blend to the winter blend. they can't do that until october 31st, so we have diminishing supplies, and that's why we're seeing prices skyrocket until they can unleash those supplies of winter fuel, it looks like we could be dealing with these

prices in the near future. jenna: it can't come fast enough, bob. thank you so much. jon: time now in america's election headquarters for our weekly look at the presidential race. so who won a very big week? let's ask ed rollins, he has a lot of experience managing republican campaigns going back to ronald reagan's, even going back to richard nixon in many 1972. he is a fox news contributor. we should point out at the outset, you were not a romney guy at the start of this campaign season. >> no. i was chairman of huckabee's campaign four years ark and i managed michele bachmann's campaign for a brief period. jon: what did governor romney accomplish in that debate? >> he became a credible alternative to the president. to beat a president, you have to basically have someone of significance. for months and months and months, this campaign has been battered by millions of dollars of commercials trying to portray romney for something he wasn't.

he went in front of 60 million people, and they got to see he was a very sub stabilityive -- substantive man. jon: so did he undo the hundreds of millions of dollars worth of negative advertising that the president and his team have thrown his ways? >> people aren't going to look at those commercials in the remaining four or five weeks of this campaign and have believability. obviously, there's some things he'll come back at him, but he himself showed the stature, showed the ability to be on a major stage with the president of the united states and outdebate him and look presidential. jon: but a lot of republicans said this election was slipping away, that he had to have a solid performance on wednesday night. >> he did. if this -- if he had performed like the president did, the game would be over. we wouldn't even be sitting here having a serious conversation. but it's energized our base. the president clearly was off, a competitive guy, i expect him to come back in the future debates, but that night, important debate, 67 million people

watching, he basically lost and lost bigtime. and equally as important, the whole portrayal of the president is that he hasn't been a strong leader on the economy or foreign affairs. he looked very weak the other night, and that imagery is almost as important as anything else. jon: all right, so let me jump to the title of the segment and ask you right now who won the week. >> big win for the romney campaign. jon: despite those unemployment numbers out today? president obama is already making hay about 7.8%. >> he can do all he wants. every tv station in this country has portrayed romney as a winner and the president as a loser. the statistics today which, obviously, are always positive when more people get jobs, can be disputed other the next several weeks, but at the end of the day, he can't undo the damage that was done to his base and romney, basically, has an energized base today. jon: we are looking at some of the pictures, i think this was of earlier today of governor romney holding this event in

virginia, and the enthusiasm seems to be there. that's a big part of what he accomplished, stoking the enthusiasm among voters. >> and equally important look how positive, the walk, the whole bit. his campaign was the campaign of disarray three or four weeks ago. i policy you in chicago -- promise you in chicago this week they've been killing each other fighting among themselves over what their strategy should be from here forward. jon: we can expect a tougher, more prepared president obama on stage in, what, two weeks? >> it's a real close race today, it will be competitive all the way to the end. jon: ed rollins, thank you. jenna: both presidential candidates are pitching to voters in the very same state today, the big battleground of virginia could hold the key to the white house, so we're going to stay focused on that state and find out which way voters are leaning. also, it's the second worst outbreak of west nile virus in the history of this country. the death toll expected to rise even higher. who's hit the hard and where? the latest from the centers for disease control ahead.

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jenna: well, we are your election headquarters, and less than five weeks until the big day, we're taking a close look at the battleground state of virginia. that's where romney is, that's where the president is today. the president took the state in 2008, republicans carried virginia in ten straight elections up until that point, so that was a key election. let's take a look at the state of virginia. you can see 13 out of 207 electoral votes as we always mention, every vote counts. bob donnell was once thought of -- mcdom was once thought

of as a candidate. the unemployment rate well below the national rate which we know today is 7.8%. a. -- at 5.9%. the president since april has been there ten times, romney nine, but be you take a look at the total visits by the president since he was elected president, he's been to the seat of virginia 44 times. he's close, right? so probably easier to get to virginia than some of these other swing states. when we look at the polls, you can see how close. they are virtually tied in virginia, and that's why we wanted to talk to julian walker, a writer for the virginian pilot. he joining us from the state capital of richmond. julian, do you think anything that happened in this debate changed the poll in any way if because the numbers we just showed were taken before the debate, and we have some real numbers to compare it to. >> well, it's difficult to say because we haven't seen a lot of polling postdebate. the only poll i've seen so far

postdebate is a rasmussen poll which actually has governor romney up by one point which is within the margin of error. the race is tight in virginia, as you point out, according to polling. the vast majority of polls taken this year have shown president obama ahead, many of them within the margin of error. in mid to late september, several polls including one commissioned by fox, another by "the washington post" and one by nbc, showed president obama ahead and seeming to widen his margin a little bit outside the margin of error. however, as i noted, there is that rasmussen poll out today, and that is a robo dial poll, but it does show governor ahead by one point. rasmussen has been slightly divergent from some of the polling -- jenna: you really know your numbers, julian. they tell us only so much, as you mentioned. being on the ground there with the appearances by both governor romney and the president, they've been to the state often, i mentioned the president 44 times as president, do these appearances really matter? do you think they're really

having an impact on the ground there? >> well, as you said earlier, i mean, they excite the base. those people who are eager, who are partisans on the republican side or the democratic side, those are the people who turn up to campaign appearances. you noted the number of visits by both presidential nominees. it is also important to note that governor romney chose norfolk in august to roll out and introduce paul ryan of wisconsin as his running mate. in addition, when the president formally kicked off his re-election campaign in may, he chose virginia and ohio to do his kind of introductory campaign rallieses as well. so -- rallies as well. so those two visits in and of themselves show the priority that both men are placing on this critical battleground state. jenna: you've got that major foreign policy address in virginia that mitt romney's going to be giving on monday. we're taking a look at live pictures there. i read that democrats turned out more than republicans in

presidential elections in virginia, but when you take a look at the midterms, republicans were pretty strong. what does voter turnout look like? >> well, voter turnout is going to be key, and it will probably be decisive in this race. in 2008 when barack obama carried virginia breaking a 40-plus-year streak of republican wins on the presidential level, he did so by getting very high turnout. there was about 75% voter turnout in virginia in 2008. and in many of the kind of key bellwether areas within virginia in the so-called urban crescent that spans from northern virginia through the richmond region and down along the atlantic coast, barack obama did, did well in a number of those key areas which have trended republican in other elections. in the subsequent years, as you noted in 2009, governor bob mcdon -- a popular governor here in virginia and one who has been a key surrogate for governor romney -- led a republican statewide sweep of

the offices and turnout that year was down to about 40%. so turnout and both parties getting their bases and their supporters to the polls, that will probably be the decisive factor in virginia. jenna: it's nice to have someone, julian, who really knows the state. thank you so much for joining us. we look forward to having you back. >> thanks for having me. jon: i was just down in virginia earlier this week visiting my sis, great state. the new unemployment numbers are out, the impact those could have on the race to the white house. reaction from president obama and governor romney coming up. plus, the first presidential debate surprising many people on both sides of the political aisle. we'll take a look at how the mainstream media are covering the president's lackluster performance and what just might be the boost governor romney's campaign has been looking for. i've got my dialing finger all ready.

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jenna: just a little bit earlier governor romney made comments on a whole slew of comments, there he is saying his good-byes. he specifically addressed the new numbers on the economy, the new numbers on the job market today, and we wanted to share those with you. take a listen. >> now, we can do better. we don't have to stay on the path we've been on. we can do better. there was a report that just came out this morning on job creation the this last month. there were fewer new jobs created this month than last month. and the unemployment rate, as you noted this year, has come down very, very slowly, but it's

come down nonetheless. the reason it's come down this year is primarily due to the fact that more and more people have just stopped looking for work. and if you just drop out of the work force, if you just give up and say, look, i'm just going to stay home, if you just drop out altogether, you're no longer part of the unemployment statistics. the truth is, if the same share of people were participating in the work force today as on the day that the president got elected, why, our unemployment rate would be around 11%. that's the real reality of what's happening out there. and then, of course, even those that have jobs are having tough times. the middle class is being squeezed with higher and higher costs and with incomes that have gone down by $4300 a family. this can't go on. i'll tell you this, when i'm president of the united states -- when i'm president of the united states -- [cheers and applause] that unemployment rate is going to come down not because people are giving up and dropping out of the work force, but because

we're creating more jobs. i will create jobs and get america working again. [cheers and applause] jenna: governor romney's response to the job figures today. surely going to be something we're going to hear a lot about over the next couple days and certainly something we'll watch how the media covers as well, because as romney points out and as the president also proposed to us in many virginia in a separate speech, there's a lot of different ways to look at these numbers. jon: it's all in how it gets sliced and diced, jenna. the news media are having a field day with all this, and with the first debate between governor romney and president obama, most analysts praising governor romney's performance, giving the president very poor reviews. a column in the washington times gave romney high marks for arriving with a game plan and staying on point. quote, he was confident, respectful and looked to be the man in charge of the evening. a column in the guardian said the president appeared nervous, distracted and unprepared. quote: gone was the charisma, the optimism and the eloquence.

defensive, halting and verbose, he looked tired, and that made his presidency look tired. so what about the news coverage? joining us in on our news watch panel now, judith miller or, a pulitzer prize-winning author. kirsten, do you think the media got it wrong in their characterizations of this debate? >> actually, for once i don't. [laughter] it was interesting as the debate was going on and it became pretty clear what was happening, that it was undeniable that rommy was winning -- romney was overwhelmingly winning the debate. he wasn't just doing well, the president was doing extraordinarily bad. i started to wonder, you know, if there was any possible way the media could bend this in obama's favor, but really i didn't see anybody even attempting to do that. everybody seemed to have reported it as it happened. jon: you know, i heard ann compton from abc, judy, talking about the debate in the

immediate minutes after, and she said i was so surprised, the president did so poorly. there just seemed to be this disbelief among many major media players that president obama didn't win. >> right. well, it was -- when you start out with the assumption that this is a make or break moment for governor romney, the add adjectives that were associated with this debate before the debate were salvaging, last chance, make or break moment. it was, they were about to write off this race when we were more than a month from it. and i think what was astonishing was to watch msnbc and see the black crepe being put up around the room. [laughter] and people saying where was our president, where was ole? what happened to im, as if he'd had some kind of personality transplant. it was an astonishing moment of mourning over at the other cable news network.

jon: you know, the media seems to love this president, but he doesn't really seem to love the media. we took a look at the interviews that he has done, and here's the list. it's pretty incredible when you look at it. prior to the debate the president talked to entertainment tonight, people magazine, the view, this dj in miami, espn2, david letterman, jimmy fallon and glam our bag zien. those are the folks he's been dishing with. why, kirsten? >> well, because they're softball interviews that he can control. look, it's unrequited love, for sure. the president is not, really, i mean, he has total disdain for the media. i don't think that that even, he even tries to hide it. the reporters were frustrated with him on the campaign, they get very little access. and it's not just the president, the white house, the campaign are very controlling with

reporters. um, and yet they, you know, generally still continue to give him favorable coverage. jon: well, and the president is already out there on the campaign trail, judy, crowing about these job numbers. if the labor force participation rate, the same percentage of folks were working today or were in the labor force today as were there on the day he took office, the unemployment rate would be 10.7%. but the president is crowing about this 7.8% number that's out there, and i imagine he's going to get that echoed in the morning papers tomorrow. >> well, of course he is. you've seen 15 percentage points difference in the way in which the media cover positive news when a democrat is in the white house from when a republican is in the white house. but, jon, honestly, i think this is man that from heaven for the president. he needed these job numbers to change the conversation from his abysmal performance during the

debate. he's going to run with these numbers, and it's the bottom line, you know? they will be able to use this, and they needed it badly. jon: and will they get help, kirsten, from the media many. >> well, look, i don't think it's help for the media to report that the job numbers were unexpectedly good. they were. there's, you know, i notice that a lot of people are now suddenly becoming suspicious of the numbers coming out of, you know, the labor department, but there was no suspicion when they were 10%. so these are the same numbers that have been coming out, they just now happen to be 7.8% which is a surprise to a lot of people and is, shows that the president's going in the right direction. and so i think that he deserves to have, you know, some coverage there when he gets the bad coverage when there's bad numbers. jon: some would say it's been terrible so long that awful suddenly looks good. [laughter] kirsten powers, judy miller, thank you. >> thank you. jon: be sure to catch fox news watch for for of the media's

coverage of the big stories of the week. i'll be hosting our great panel a full hour, that runs tomorrow 3 p.m. eastern time right here on fnc. jenna: now we have another story that we've been watching closely really for the last several weeks. some new numbers on the west nile outbreak that's been gripping this country. it's on track to be the second worst on record, that's according to the cdc, and harris is watching this story at the breaking news desk. >> reporter: 3,969 cases of the mosquito-borne illness and 163 people dead can. there are so many problems with the spread of this. federal officials are greatly concerned the pace of the disease is only slowing down a little bit with the seasonal change to cooler weather now. sixteen people died from west nile just last week, for example. and then there's this, the new cases that are popping up continue to be the most severe form of west nile. it can lead to things like encephalitis which is an acute inflammation of the brain. we've been reporting in the

worst place for in this year texas in particular, cities and counties have been spraying to kill the mosquitoes, and they continue to warn people to cover themselves with insect repellant and stay away from shallow pockets of water where mosquitoes flourish. i mentioned texas. also on the list of states with the most serious cases; mississippi, michigan, south dakota, louisiana, oklahoma, illinois and california. jenna? n n good to know it's also in those areas and to be concerned and take proper precautions. >> reporter: absolutely. frank. jenna: thank you very much. jon: new concerns in iran with riots in the streets as the value of that country's currency tanks. could this be the tipping point, and will it mean anything when it comes to reining in iran's nuclear ambitions? a live report next.

jenna: well, unrest growing in iran as the currency there takes a nose dive.

protesters clashing with police as iranians watch their money lose more than a quarter of its value just this week. the cost of food also tripling in some cases, many middle class iranians are forced to pawn their possessions. there is a reason, of course, this is happening. amy kellogg is live in london with more for us now. >> reporter: while there is so much attention on iran's nuclear program and the israeli prime minister's request for red lines, the talk about further sanctions, there is simultaneously an incredibly dangerous situation playing out in iran with this currency crisis that many say is really being caused more by economic mismanagement at home than by sanctions. demonstrations significantly, very significantly, were staged this week by the conservative merchant class, a group that was integral in bringing the clerical regime to power 30-plus years ago. there were demonstrations about the economy, the currency, the real, losing more than a third of its value, unemployment is on the rise and inflation is

rampant. >> you go out with a lot of times and you have no idea if it will cover your basic necessities. you have no way of calculating because you don't know what the prices are today. although the prices never go down. >> reporter: this woman did not want to be identified, jenna, out of fear of retribution or repercussions. she said that there is a real sense of panic in the iran right now as middle class people watch their savings just melt away. and be a very important be -- a very important iranian economist says he fears this is going to be an autumn of unrest on the streets of iran. jenna: wow. amy, thank you very much. jon: also this update on a story we've been following for months and a remarkable tale of courage and heroism. a young soldier continues to overcome the traumatic injuries he received on the battle of afghanistan. where he is today and how he's inspiring everyone around him.

travis mills is jenna's guest just ahead. [inaudible conversations]

jenna: well, the story travis mills is one you know well now, we've been following it for a few months. sergeant mills lost all four of his limbs in afghanistan. this is one of the first videos we had of travis with his baby girl, chloe, who's famous herself. he started walking on prosthetic legs, he called 'em short legs. he's got to graduate from those, and he did. take a look at those big legs,

basically making him the height before he was wounded. he's pretty speedy on them, that's for sure. hammer fist, he said, i think, on the web site. i'll ask him about that in a second. yesterday a hero's homecoming in his hometown of vassar, michigan, and joining us on the phone is army staff sergeant travis mills. how does it feel to be back at home and have this big parade for you? >> it feels phenomenal. it's a little overwhelming, and i just appreciate everybody coming out and showing their support for me and the community and the football team, and it's just been a great experience already. jenna: tell us about what you've got going on in your hometown. >> yesterday we had the parade, i flew in on wednesday evening i flew in, and i drove through town, yellow ribbons everywhere and my name up saying welcome home, and the parade last night was a big success. a lot of people came out, then they had a bonfire.

i got to talk and address to the crowd. i kind of blacked out, so i don't know if i said everything right, but i think i did. today we have a block party, the community's going to come together and have a tailgate deal, and then we have a game. and we're going to go on into the playoffs. they're going to win tonight to get into the playoffs. jenna: i think your sister said when you were in high school, you were a little bit more interested in the social and athletic activities -- >> oh, yeah. i really, i was a social butterfly. i can say that. [laughter] even the principal put that in an article, that i was really good at socializing. i'd get myself out of trouble just as quick as i would get in it. jenna: that is good. the last time you were in the studio, you were in your chair, and now you're up and walking around on these quote-unquote tall legs. just tell us a little bit about that process and how that feels. >> oh, it feels great. my physical therapist has been pushing me, and i've been

pushing myself as well as my occupational therapist. it's not the same as pushing up from the chair to walk, and by mid november i hope to be walking with little to no use of a wheelchair. and it's just been a great experience. jenna: that's incredible being it's just been a couple months, this april when you were jawed. i'm sure when you're at home you're still thinking about your buddiesover overseas and also the guys that you're with at walter reed. you know, you're there every day, we're not able to be there. tell us a little bit about what you see. >> well, i definitely see great strides, um, by the military at walter reed to make sure that the guys that do come home wounded are taken care of, that they have the things in front of them, the tools to make them walk and use hands if they lose hands. people are still coming in, but i am thankful that walter is there, and the things they have in place for the wounded soldiers to be able to live a normal or somewhat normal life. jenna: we're excited for the

football game tonight, and jon still says whenever you want it, you can just take his job for the day. jon: yeah. >> well, i appreciate it. i'm not going to steal his job, but i might come in, you know, and try my hand at the news. but maybe not a big story like this first, i might need to start somewhere small. jon: some of those karate moves, you might just kick me out of this chair. >> i tell you, i'm getting good at 'em. the next thing is i'm going to try to do a cart wheel. jenna: are you serious? >> i haven't tried yet, but there's soft grass here, and i'm going to see if i can throw myself hard enough. i'm not going to tape it until i get it. jenna: we're going to need video of that. >> will do. jenna: hey, travis, thanks for giving us the update, and hello to everybody in vassar. >> thanks so much. have a wonderful day and thanks for the time. jon: a judge makes a rule anything a critical case. it's about cheerleaders holding up biblical banners.

that's coming up. for 30 some years at many different park service units across the united states. the only time i've ever had a break is when i was on maternity leave. i have retired from doing this one thing that i loved. now, i'm going to be able to have the time to explore something different. it's like another chapter.

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